BIO

Monique Cardenas (car-DEAN-us) was a solid, instinctive player… 2002 tri-captain … epitome of a "blue-collar" player, diving for loose balls, making defensive deflections and playing hard-nosed defense … an aggressive rebounder who possesses good height on the perimeter… hometown of Keystone Heights, Fla., is a 20 minute drive northeast of Gainesville… in January 2002, began performing an internship with the law firm of Peter Robertson & Associates, where she clerked to complete the requirements for her major (Criminology) … on schedule to graduate in May 2002 ... worked in a law office during the summers of 2000 and 2001 … underwent surgery on her left shoulder on August 22, 2001 … two-time member of the SEC Academic Honor Roll... fourth round selection (53rd overall) by Portland in the 2002 WNBA Draft.

Misc. Career Info.
27 double-figure scoring games ... 4 double-figure rebounding games ... 1 double-double ... started the last 58 games of her career ... earned 62 total career starts ... appeared in 118 games -- tied for No. 8 all-time at UF.

Senior Year (2001-02)
Starting guard/forward every game this season … UF's third leading scorer and rebounder ... in the SEC stats for all games ranked No. 8 for rebounding (6.9 pg) & in the SEC stats for conference only ranked No. 12 for rebounding (6.3 pg) and No. 20 for scoring (12.3 pg) ... at the UF's postseason banquet, she received the Goodwill Gator Award, given to the player who most unselfishly gave her time and attention to the community and volunteer affairs, and received the team's Fightin' Gator Hustle Award, presented to the player who accumulates the most charges, deflections and defensive rebounds ... appeared in more career games than any other current player on the team (117) ... UF's leading scorer in SEC games through the first eight games ... named to the SEC Academic Honor Roll for the second time in her career … led team with 18 points and seven rebounds in the win over Kentucky (Feb. 14) ... named SEC Player of the Week (Jan. 28) after leading UF to a pair of upset wins the week of Jan. 21st ... tied for team scoring honors in the win over No. 16/17 Georgia (Jan. 27), netting 19 points with seven rebounds ... sparked UF's upset win at No. 6/5 Vanderbilt (Jan. 24), scoring 16 points with seven rebounds and four steals in 36 minutes ... named to the SEC Good Works Team for the second straight year ... played all 40 minutes in the win over Ole Miss (Jan. 20), when she contributed 14 points, seven rebounds and a career-high seven assists ... led UF with a career-high 22 points and eight rebounds in the win against Alabama (Jan. 13) … tallied the first double-double of her career when she led UF with 17 points and 11 rebounds against Elon (Dec. 18) … played in her 100th career game on Dec. 21 against Colorado … recorded career-highs for rebounds (13) and steals (6) at South Florida (Dec. 8) … grabbed a career-high 11 rebounds along with seven points in the 78-74 overtime win at Florida State (Nov. 29) … led Florida with a career-high 18 points and seven rebounds in the loss to Southern California (Nov. 24) … 12 double-figure scoring games … 4 double-figure rebounding games … 1 double-double.

Junior Year (2000-01)
One of only two players to start all 30 games this season and one of only three players to play in every game … at the team's postseason banquet, was voted by her teammates to receive the Mary Myers Elliott Unsung Gator Award, presented to the player who made significant contributions on the court, but never received recognition ... named to the SEC Academic Honor Roll … statistically on the team ranked No. 3 in assists (1.4 apg), No. 3 in three-point field goal percentage (17-56, 30.4%), No. 3 in minutes played per game (29.4 pg), No. 4 in steals (1.3 spg), No. 5 in rebounding (4.6 rpg) and No. 6 in scoring (8.9 ppg) ... in her NCAA debut, contributed 12 points with four rebounds against Holy Cross (March 16) ... played all 40 minutes in regular season finale at Alabama (Feb. 25), where she scored 15 points ... scored 14 points and dished a career-high five assists in the win against No. 14 LSU (Feb. 22) ... suffered a severely bruised right tibia on the final play of UF's loss to Mississippi State (Feb. 18) but did not miss any game action ... recorded back-to-back career scoring games which was capped by a 17 point-effort at Ole Miss (Feb. 15), when she played a career-high 40 minutes ... tallied a career-high 16 points against Tennessee (Feb. 11), which included scoring UF's first five points of the game ... scored all four of her game points in the final five minutes during the win at Arkansas (Feb. 8), when the Lady Razorbacks were making a late run ... her three-point play with 2:25 remaining in the game against No. 5 Georgia (Feb. 1) ignited the home crowd and helped end UGA's 6-0 run - that had cut UF's lead to 66-62 - and spark UF's game-ending 9-2 run en route to the upset ... solid outing against South Carolina (Jan. 28), when she scored eight points and eight rebounds with two steals while defending Tatyana Troina, who did not score after hitting a career-high 24 points against UF one week earlier ... snared a career-high 10 rebounds - all coming in the first half - in the win over New Mexico (Dec. 17) ... contributed a solid eight points with five rebounds in 20 minutes of action against Central Florida (Dec. 9) ... named to the Dead River Company Classic All-Tournament Team, helping UF to the title against host Maine (Nov. 25) by scoring a career-high 15 points and tying a career-high with eight rebounds in the championship game … scored a career-high 13 points in the season-opener at Fordham (Nov. 17), shooting 6-for-8 from the field … member of the SEC Good Works Team for her countless volunteer hours spent in the community … 12 double-figure scoring games.

Sophomore Year (1999-2000)
Appeared in 32 of 34 games, missing the Boston College (Dec. 30) and Florida State (Dec. 7) contests… starter in four games… earned her first career start against Arkansas (Feb. 10) … first guard off the bench... came off the bench against Memphis (March 17) in the second round of the WNIT to record four points with two rebounds... snatched a career-high eight rebounds at LSU (Feb. 24)… scored a career-high 12 points against Western Michigan (Feb. 1) and equaled that mark against Arkansas (Feb. 10), when she also stole a career-high four passes and played a career-high 32 minutes… snatched a career-high eight rebounds against South Carolina (Jan. 30)… named to the SEC Academic Honor Roll… voted by her teammates as the Mary Myers Elliott Unsung Gator Award winner, given to the player who made significant contributions, on the court, but never received recognition… three double-figure scoring games.

Freshman Year (1998-99)
Played in 27 games… scored a career-high 10 points in the win over Vanderbilt (Jan. 31)… collected a career-high seven rebounds twice: at Illinois (Dec. 19) and at Mississippi State (Feb. 21)… played a season-high 17 minutes against SW Texas (Dec. 5)… saw snow for the first time ever when the team traveled to Fort Collins, Col., to play in the Preseason NIT… however, while the Lady Gators were there, it did not snow, but she was treated to her first-ever snowfall on Jan. 2, when UF visited Lexington for its Jan. 3 meeting with Kentucky… one double-figure scoring game.

High School
Cardenas was a four-time first team All-State selection at Keystone Heights High School, where she was coached by Kathleen Boatwright, one of the winningest coaches in Florida high school history… instrumental in guiding the Lady Indians to the 1994, '95 and '97 state titles, earning State Tournament MVP honors in 1995 and '97… team was state runner-up in 1996… scored 25 points in her prep finale, as KHHS lost a 62-58 overtime game in the North II Regional semifinals… concluded her career with a school-record - boys or girls - 2,805 points, which also set a Gainesville area scoring record… also tallied 1,393 career rebounds (8.5 rpg), 401 assists (2.4 apg), 316 steals (1.9 spg) and shot 56.0-percent (1205-for-2151) from the floor… named 1998 Player of the Year by The Gainesville Sun and (Jacksonville) Florida Times-Union… represented the North squad in the 1998 Florida Athletic Coaches' Association North-South All-Star Game… earned 1997 Best Performance in Amateur Basketball honors by the First Coast Sports Awards.